Beverly Johnson: “Stop Saying There Are No Good Men Out There!”

“Stop saying there are no good men out there because there are,” said a fabulous looking Johnson, who recently discovered new love, during the ESSENCE Music Festival.

On Friday, she shared her thoughts on making relationships work while sitting on the Finding Love At Any Age: Black Relationship Defined panel during the ESSENCE Empowerment Experience. Johnson was joined by popular radio personality Shirley Strawberry, Single Ladies stars LisaRaye McCoy and Denise Vasi, and star of upcoming Oxygen reality show Girlfriend Confidential LA, Eva Marcille.

With a little help from moderator Charreah Jackson, ESSENCE’s Relationship Editor, the all-star panel opened up about the struggles single women face and the realities of looking for love today. Johnson and Strawberry both admitted to recently finding new love and happiness, while single ladies (pun intended) Vasi and McCoy revealed real talk insight into their own past experiences with men. As expected, Ms. McCoy was very vocal about her failed marriage to Michael Misick, a former Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands and her desire to “get it right” the next time around. Her strategy, she told the crowd, is actually not to have one at all.

"I'm dating myself right now,” said McCoy. “I'm not looking for him. I want God to bring him to me." The other ladies concurred, agreeing that it’s best to wait until love finds you.

"Women are sometimes so desperate to be in relationships they ignore the red flags," said Strawberry. “You don't want to be desperate. Men can smell that a mile away."

As questions from Twitter came rolling in throughout the panel, the ladies were asked to discuss their views on living their best single lives. Johnson expressed the need for a strong foundation.

"Healthy people attract healthy people,” she said, adding that women should be focused on bettering themselves, not finding a husband. The crowd nodded and clapped in agreement and a few “amens” followed. "Men have to do their work and their soul searching, too,” added Vasi. “It's not all on us!"

Former America’s Next Top Model winner Marcille urged attendees to make a man wait for “the cookies” at least four months, so they can get to know who they’re with. Strawberry didn’t agree with setting a “rule,” but urged women to know who they’re getting into bed with.